7 Life Lessons You Learned From Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar's masterpiece taught you everything other than tying a lasso.
Haven’t you always wanted to be a cowboy? As a kid, they’re right up there alongside policemen, soldiers and astronauts on the list of things we want to be when we grow up. Naturally you do grow up, realise you’re probably never going to saddle up and tame the wild west, and take that job in accounts so you can chat to Linda.
Then Red Dead Redemption came along. Twice, if you count its Xbox One backwards compatibility (which nobody does). RDR’s smart gameplay and design captured how it should feel to be the hero, and totally inhabit the role, similar to Rocksteady’s own power-fantasy, Batman: Arkham Asylum.
You weren’t playing as John Marston; you were John Marston – rider of the open plains, doer of a squillion side-quests.
I’m not saying Red Dead Redemption is Rockstar’s finest moment, but I’m strongly implying it – even over GTA V’s pitch-perfect satire of our unholy modern age. It was a simpler time, back then, see. An age of child-like wonder, bloody hard work, and banditos stealing your livestock. But Red Dead Redemption still managed to teach us a few crucial lessons about life…
7. Always Try To See A Situation From Both Sides
Not all your mates, but sometimes those you thought were your pals are going to dick you about some day. It happens. That’s Red Dead Redemption’s first life lesson.
The main plot of Red Dead Redemption is this: Your wife’s been kidnapped by the government (is there no one we can trust anymore?). To get her back, a couple of snivelling G-men want you to bring your old gang to justice. And by justice, I mean inevitable death.
That lack of trust is ably showcased right near the beginning: You visit the Bond-like lair of a fort run by your ol’ gangmate Bill Williamson. And all he does is laugh at your stupid, snobby vocabulary, then shoots you and leaves you for dead.
That’s what friends are for, right?
You get pretty much the same welcome from your other ex-friends too, proving there’s no honour among thieves. And look at it from the other side: Your three former partners in crime thought they could trust you to, well not turn them over – which you don’t, directly; you just shoot them dead.
Wouldn’t happen like that today, mind. They’d just character assassinate each other on Facebook.